STAR WARS: There’s Only One Way General Hux Survives Episode IX

To say that Kylo Ren and General Hux don’t like each other is about as big of an understatement as saying the Yankees and Red Sox have “a little bit” of a rivalry. In truth, the two hate each other, so much so that Hux contemplated shooting an unconscious Ren following his explosive encounter with Rey. He missed his chance; the only way Hux survives Star Wars Episode IXnow is if he follows through and betrays Kylo Ren.

As much as Ren and General Hux desire to emulate their original trilogy counterparts in Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, each falls woefully short in their respective effort. Despite his fanatical obsession with his grandfather, Ren inherited little more than Anakin Skywalker’s worst attributes and lacks Vader’s menacing degree of control. Hux, on the other hand, is utterly devoid of the commanding presence Tarkin possessed.

Vader and Tarkin may have not trusted each other, but there was no questioning the mutual deal of respect they had for one another. It’s even believed that Tarkin may have suspected at Vader’s true identity; James Luceno hinted at it in the novel Tarkin. Still, if Tarkin did know, he never confessed it. As Luceno says in the book, “Tarkin’s intuitions were important only in the sense that he never revealed them and never allowed them to interfere with his own ambitions.”

Can you imagine General Hux commanding that Kylo Ren release someone from a Force choke, and Ren not only doing it, but remarking “as you wish” while doing so? I can’t. Whatever favor Snoke bestowed on Hux, it was minimal, considering Snoke unceremoniously embarrassed Hux in front of his crew following his failure to wipe out the Resistance at D’Qar in The Last Jedi. That favor evaporated when Ren sliced the former Supreme Leader in two. Snoke was calculated in his use of Hux; Ren would just as soon run him through.

I would not be a bit surprised if the Resistance finds an unlikely ally in General Hux by the end of the final Star Wars episodic installment. Let’s face it, they could use all the help they can get. Hux wouldn’t aid the Resistance out of any altruistic epiphany, however. He’d do it solely out of self-preservation. He’ll have to; that’s the only way he survives Episode IX.